Whatever the environmental credentials of electric cars, they will only take off if the public can be persuaded that they represent a practical, economical and enjoyable way of driving – with helping to save the planet thrown into the bargain.
Government subsidies for purchasing electric vehicles (EVs) are certainly encouraging, as the earliest models on the market from the major automotive companies are expensive. But arguably of even more importance is concrete evidence and trust that electric cars do the job they are required to do as effectively as, if not more effectively than, their internal combustion engined counterparts.
It’s for this reason that the first results from a major study into electric vehicle use in the Midlands are being widely scrutinised: the recently announced annual findings of the Coventry and Birmingham Low Emission Demonstrators (Cabled) tell an interesting story.
Cabled saw a year’s worth of data gathered from the drivers of 25 Mitsubishi i-MiEVs and 20 Smart Fortwo electric cars. Neil Butcher, a project leader at engineering consultancy Arup, which coordinated the study, says the results clearly demonstrate that EVs represent a viable – indeed welcome – option for urban driving. He says: “I have been slightly surprised at how well the trial has gone. I think we were expecting more people to run out of electricity by the side of the road. We’ve had hardly any instances of that. People have got used very quickly to the fact that they have a restricted range, have changed their driving habits accordingly, or learned to manage.
“We haven’t had any major technical issues with the vehicles either. And the data suggest that users are driving their vehicles very similarly to a conventional car.”
Most of the journeys logged by Cabled lasted less than 20 minutes and only 2% used more than 50% of the battery charge – meaning that for almost all trips the return journey could be made without recharging. Drivers of the EVs tended to charge up whenever was convenient, either at home or work.
In terms of range anxiety, the study indicated that motorists tended to drive for longer distances over time, demonstrating increased confidence in the vehicles. The most popular point at which drivers commenced charging was when the battery had 81-87% of its charge remaining. Since most journeys consumed 12% of the battery’s power, this behaviour shows that charging normally takes place upon reaching a destination. “I don’t think there’s been any incidences of people being unhappy with the electric car doing what they’ve needed it to do,” says Butcher.
One EV that could solve the problem of range anxiety altogether – it would have a headline-grabbing reach of 430 miles – is being developed by the Warwickshire-based Global Electric Vehicle Company (Gevco) and engineers at MIRA. Designed as a pure electric car rather than a derivative of a petrol-engine model, the i-Mav would be licensed as a “white label” vehicle to be manufactured for markets all over the world for economies of scale by partner companies which would share the cost of investment. The aim is to make the car a low-cost way for smaller firms to enter the market. The cars could then be customised for individual markets.
The i-Mav would retail relatively cheaply, and rely on an inexpensive aluminium air battery with superior energy density. The battery would have to be “refurbished” once fully discharged, but Steve Woolley, chief executive of Gevco, believes it would be relatively straightforward for a network of battery servicing centres to be made available at petrol stations or supermarkets. “It does raise some infrastructure issues because now you need battery swap-over stations,” he concedes. “But in places like India and China it overcomes the need to roll out a full electric charging infrastructure. And range anxiety starts to be alleviated by having such a great driving range.”
The next step is for Gevco and MIRA to create two demonstrator vehicles. The striking design is intended to be attractive to younger drivers who may wish to personalise the car – i-Mav stands for “I must have it”. “We want people to look at the design and say ‘I’d like to own it’,” says Woolley.
It is thought that the car could be on the market within five years. “Once we have the two driveable demonstrators we will have greater knowledge. That will help us to demonstrate that what we’re thinking about is the way forward – two vehicles that you can touch.”
Woolley concludes: “Then we’ll be ready to move into a main vehicle programme with our partner companies, which will invest in it. Leaving aside the UK and Europe for the moment, they could be based in China, Brazil, the Middle East and US. We will aggregate volumes, which brings costs down.
“They are sharing the investment, which makes it easier to enter the market.”
Cheap, cheerful and eco-friendly
The dinky REVAi, better known in the UK as the G-Wiz, was one of the first electric vehicles to come to prominence on London streets, where ownership is encouraged thanks to a series of incentives, including exemption from the congestion charge and free parking.
Made in India by Reva, now part of Mahindra Reva, the cheap – retailing at less than £10,000 – and unarguably cheerful G-Wiz carved itself a niche in the nascent electric car market. In London there are some 1,000 on the roads.
Why was an Indian company able to steal a march on the West’s automotive giants in terms of bringing an EV to market successfully before the climate change debate had reached the prominence it has now and before government subsidies – from which the G-Wiz is excluded anyway – came into being? The G-Wiz was first commercially manufactured 10 years ago in Bangalore.
R Chandramouli, chief of operations at Mahindra Reva, says: “We wanted to do something that respected the earth and appealed to people who want eco-friendly lifestyles. Were we pioneers?
“It’s difficult to say because companies such as GM and Ford designed electric vehicles in the 1990s too.
“The difference was that we stayed with it, we pursued it. And there were communities such as London that decided it was necessary to deal with environmental degradation and pollution and so introduced incentives.”
Chandramouli says the future is bright as Mahindra Reva looks to expand its EV business across Europe. “There is increased awareness about electric vehicles now and more support from government. Even in India, which does not have the level of environmental awareness of some other nations, there are subsidies available for electric vehicles.”
Mahindra Reva is present in 12 European states now and plans to expand into more with its new Reva NXR. It is commissioning a new factory in Bangalore that will ultimately allow it to produce 30,000 cars a year. A lithium-ion version of the G-Wiz is already on the market in Britain, and some existing G-Wiz owners are replacing their lead-acid batteries with lithium-ion packs.
Mahindra Reva plans to bring out one new model, or variant of a model, every year from 2012 “to consolidate our market position and cater to the diverse range of customers in India and overseas markets,” says Chandramouli.